Need radio, esc, servo suggestions - new guy

[BananaClip]

I have faint memories of my older cousins building these things. My son loves all things mechanicals and i think RC cars might be a good thing for us to get into! I am completely ignorant to the world of RC, here are my questions. 
 

i bought a tamiya 911 gt1 street and i want to know what type of radio, esc, and servo i should get. Would a 5 channel be overkill? What size esc does the gt1 take or are any esc good to go? Im thinking of a Smart esc that could monitor different datas. Would any servo do? Looking around the forum Hobbywing is a popular choice.
 

what should i  look for when purchasing these components? 
 

any help and tips are welcome and we are glad to be apart of the rc and tamiya community!

[alvinlwh]

2ch is really all you need. Unlike a plane, a car only has 2 axis to control. 

Some will suggest that you need the best and most expensive servo and radio gear as "they are all connects you to the car" or some nonsense like that. Many had use cheap Flysky radio gear and have nothing but good thing to say about them, same for cheapo servos, personally I use 4 for £20 type of servos and they are fine. Unless you are some racer running in extreme situation, you shouldn't need a £80 servo. 

For ESC, it really depends on what motor and motor technology you are planning to use. And they don't really send data (far as I am aware) but a data module linked to the radio gear instead. 

Realistically, the TA03R-S is a relatively basic chassis and shouldn't need that much high end gear in it, kind of a mismatch if you get what I mean. But then end of the day, your money, your choice. 

[BuggyDad]

As another newbie we got a very basic stick controller (c.£35) and then another cheap but a little step up wheel one (Absima CR3P, £53). The main thing the CR3P gives us is the ability to reduce how much throttle is available, and it has a few other settings besides which we've yet to use but might, especially including the ability to switch it easily between multiple cars. 

If I crash because of failing radio gear it'll just be one more to add to a very long list of crashes.

[Nikko85]

For budget but reasonable quality I like the Hobbywing 1060 ESC, Etronix servos and Flysky radio gear.

I've also had some of the very cheap stuff, but I've had two receivers break, two cheap "320 amp" ESCs break and a few of the 4 for £20 servos stopped working too. I don't think you have to spend lots, but if you get the very cheapest it might not save money in the long run.

If you want to go to a brushless motor you'll need to buy a new motor and ESC, but the Hobbywing will work with the one supplied in the kit.

[DeadMeat666]

ESC: Hobbywing 1060

Motor: keep it stock, or optionally go for a Tamiya Sport Tuned if you want some more 'oomph'

Servo: PowerHD 6001MG - 6kg metal geared servo that is priced reasonably and will last

Transmitter/Receiver: Flysky or DumboRC of the cheap-and-cheerful sort to start with, and then you can upgrade to something that can handle multiple receivers if your son turns out to like the hobby and wants to go deeper into the rabbit hole.

[sosidge]

Echo the Hobbywing 1060 suggestion of your car didn''t come with an ESC.

Lots of people get along fine with the "off-brand" Chinese radios, funnily enough the only time I had one it caused me problems.

I always use Futaba radio if it its coming out of my pocket, it's a small premium but I've never had a problem with their stuff.

Even a Futaba 3003 servo will be fine just to run around. I have some PowerHD high torque servos that work well, you don't need high torque in that car though. Again, there are lots of "off-brand" servos out there that most people seem to get along with. I just don't have high expectations of them.

 

[Jonathon Gillham]

As above, you don't need high end but I've had issues with the very cheap end.

Servos - Futaba S3003 used to be the standard. Now they are slow, fragile and expensive for what you get. There are plenty of cheaper but better servos now. The PowerHD mentioned above, I've also found the JX 4409MG and SPT 4412LV to work really well and they cost about 2/3 of a S3003. Metal geared and good speed and torque. I generaly buy them from Banggood. I have tried much cheaper and they have failed, spectacularly. As in they caused the whole system to glitch and the car raced off at full speed. One destroyed the ESC with it, the other luckily didn't.  They were the MG995 type which are about 4 for $20 or something.

I look for around 10kg and .1 sec, and speed is more important.

 

Radio gear - I have a few sets including Flysky, Futaba and Sanwa. You get what you pay for. The key features you need are trim (adjust the steering so the car runs straight) and EPA (can slow the car down for kids). 2 channel is all you need, but more channels open up possibilities. I have the Flysky i6 stick which i use for yachts and beacuse it has 6 channels with channel mixing we made a tank with dual motor, working turret, gun elevation etc. All very cheap chassis kit, esc etc from banggood but my son loved it.

The FlySky GT3C is good for the price. It comes with a battery included (important as its light and charges off usb, the GT3B takes 8! AA batteries which make it heavy and expensive when it gets left turned on) and has all the features you need, plus can control 10 cars with additonal cheap receivers. It costs more than the GT3B but you recover that with the first set of batteries you have to buy and is worth the extra.

Futaba - I have the 2HR, 3PRKA and 3PV. The 2HR is too basic, no EPA so you can't slow the car down for kids. The 3PRKA has everything you need but cant have multiple rx bound to it. The 3PV is a great radio and a big step up and not a bad price. It is quite small so perfect for small hands, my 8yo got his when he was 5 and its still going strong. He races with me. Futaba are more expensive but they feel a lot better in the hand. The cheaper radils feel cheap. Rx cost more, but you can get clone ones for a reasonable price, still more than Flysky though. 

Sanwa - i have the MT4S and love it. Its their mid range from a few years ago so quite expensive. No regreta though. It does everything and well. Overkill though. Rx are expensive but you can get clone ones as well. Avoid the newest MT5 as it only takes the latest rx which will be Sanwa making the old clone rx redundant. The MTS or MT44 are available though.

If I had the knowledge at the start i would have bought myself a Futaba 4PV (4PM now) and my son a 3PV. Futaba is great and sharing rx would be useful. What we have works though, and all the cheaper ones are still used as my sons friends, neighbours etc come over and we often have up to 5 cars running at once.

Quality servos and radio will be with you a long time. If you go overboard and spend a lot you will either have ot forever and it will always work well, or they have decent resale. I have Savox 1258TG I bought secondhand 4 years ago still going strong in race buggies which take a lot of abuse. The Savox has proven much cheaper than the super cheap MG995 which have failed and caused other bits to fail.

Esc - like people say, the 1060 does what you need, will run the kit motor and faster brushed motors.  If you want to play around further down the track a programmable brushless esc is the way to go. You can set everything and play around. The Skyrc TS120 (and program card) is a good value esc which allows a lot of settings and fast motors. Probably not for now though

Data logging. There are options. Some radio gear has telemtetry functions where you buy extra sensors and can monitor battery volts, motor temps etc. Sanwa also have a system where you can control everything but you need their esc and radio which are expensive. I think some escs do have data logging, look at Castle but I know nothing about them. I always think of Castle as aimed at bigger scales and jumping buildings.

[Juggular]

7 hours ago, BananaClip said:

Smart esc that could monitor different datas

Telemetry is expensive.... like that kind of a radio could easily be several hundred dollars. (Which is the only reason why I don't have telemetry function yet, even though it sounds cool.) 

If you have a brushed motor (for on-road RC, brushed motors are plenty), Hobbywing 1060 is THE standard these days.  

Radio: Do you want trigger type or stick type?  I learn to drive with a stick type, so the throttle feels natural on a stick. But the trigger type has a steering wheel, so that' feels natural too.  (I'm still waiting for some company to come up with left thumb throttle and a steering wheel configuration.  I'm using a cheap Flysky trigger type GT3.  But if you want, you can go for a GT5 too, just a bit fancier.   

Servo: unlike Hobbywing 1060 ESC, there is no standard anymore. Literally anything would do. Even that should be enough for now.  For on-road cars, speed is more important than power, so if you want, you can use a digital servo.   https://smile.amazon.com/JX-Servo-PDI-4409MG-Digital-Standard/dp/B07G876LN6/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=digital+servo+low+profile&qid=1639518646&s=toys-and-games&sr=1-6

 

[Jonathon Gillham]

4 hours ago, Juggular said:

Telemetry is expensive.... like that kind of a radio could easily be several hundred dollars. (Which is the only reason why I don't have telemetry function yet, even though it sounds cool.) 

 

 

Hobbyking used to sell a Trackstar branded "drift" radio which could have all the sensors for next to nothing (like USD50 or something with 1 rx).  Its discontinued now but from memory it looked like a rebranded Radiolink RC4 but I'm not sure, but Radiolink may be worth looking into.

Sanwa sensors are stupidly expensive, like US50 per sensor on top of the price of the telemetry capable rx and tx (I think the mid-range do it) but then if you go all Sanwa then you can program the ESC and servos on the fly from the tx.  Futaba also offer telemetry (pretty sure its the 4PV/PM/please and up though) and their sensors aren't too bad, like US20 each or something.  

The only real use for it would be to monitor battery voltage so you don't ruin a lipo (but most ESC have lipo cutoff anyway) and motor temp so you don't ruin a motor.  Really, motor temp is the one when you're trying to set up a new motor, monitoring temp in real time would be useful.  You can bring it in before it cooks, or know that its not running hot so you can go up in gearing or timing.

[Wooders28]

In this hobby/ sport, I've found if you buy cheap, you buy twice.

I'm not saying go for the top shelf stuff, just not the first you come to, selecting "lowest price" on ebay.

Minimum spec for a radio, lcd screen and EPA (great for slowing the car down for a newbie), 2 channel is minimum, but seem to be 3ch these days.

Servo wise, a named ,metal geared servo. They're fairly cheap these days, so the difference between a cheap plastic geared ,and a branded metal geared, isn't that much tbh.

As above, the 1060 is the goto , no fuss brushed esc, or the 10bl120 (or 10bl60, but I always go for the 120) if you want to go brushless.

One thing you've not mentioned, is a charger. 

An LCD screened , multi chemistry charger ,would be my recommendation,  but not the Imax b6, its been cloned to death, and thousands of fakes out there.

 

[BuggyDad]

If you're in the UK you could do worse than what was recommended to me in similar circumstances (also by @Wooders28 😅 as above so they're pretty much the same items). All is working nicely for me with that lot:

I think I followed exactly those links except I found the transmitter cheaper somewhere else and went for a different charger (HTRC T240 duo from Banggood).

On chargers, there's also big advantage to dual and at £50 the one I got is pretty low priced. Especially if you move to Lipo, with the various steps you take, eg storage charging, its really nice to do two at once. And from storage voltage you can have a couple of packs ready to run in minutes. 

[whahooo]

A List would be amazing.

 

Someone in another Forum asked me for Radio Gear.

I said it depends if he would want a "digital" Radio with an Modelmemorylist or if he would want a Radiogear with "analog" potentiometers for his fine tuning.

I personally love the Potentiometers and dont really like that "digital" finetuning....

 

I recomended that:

65,- FlySky GT3C - good, cheap, nothing bad heared about it yet

50,- Absima GT3B - good, cheap, uses Flysky receivers, ergonimical not perfect

30,- Dumbo RC 6 chanel receiver with Gyro - super Cheap - you get wat you pay for. BUT i like the Potentiometers, the cheap receivers that can use up to 4 channels or something and they have an installed gyro if you like that

[BananaClip]

Thanks everyone for your input!

Ive decided on Futaba 3PRKA for radio, hobbywing 1060 esc, and arrma ads-7m v2 servo. Also going with translucent green, tamiya ps 44 for exterior color.

We are very excited!

[JeffSpicoli]

Does ANYONE make a high quality piece of gear anymore?

The 80s and 90s Futaba transmitters are the grail in my opinion.   When I picked up the new Futaba radio at the shop, I couldn't believe the lightweight, cheap crap they are making.  

Is there any manufacturer making a good heavy duty feeling transmitter anymore?

 

[Wooders28]

3 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

Is there any manufacturer making a good heavy duty feeling transmitter anymore?

I've no issues with my Sanwa Exzes ZZ, solid feel, not extremely expensive receivers ,and more features than I'll ever use.

[Jonathon Gillham]

4 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

Does ANYONE make a high quality piece of gear anymore?

The 80s and 90s Futaba transmitters are the grail in my opinion.   When I picked up the new Futaba radio at the shop, I couldn't believe the lightweight, cheap crap they are making.  

Is there any manufacturer making a good heavy duty feeling transmitter anymore?

 

What model?  The 3PRKA is very light.  The higher you go in the range the better they feel.  Also, I bought the 3PV for my son which is perfect for him as it is quite light.

My Sanwa MT4S has a nice solid feel to it, which is the same for the MT44, M12, M17 etc.

[JeffSpicoli]

I'll go to my local shop and pick up a Sanwa and see how they feel, good to hear.

[BananaClip]

Happy new year everyone!

Our porsche 911 gt1 is coming along nicely, and slowly!

I have a problem im having a tough time figuring it out. Im done with the chasis and im trying to connect all the electronics together.
I have the Fatuba 3PRKA radio and the hobbywing quicrun 1060 esc. The radio control comes with a power ON/OFF switch and the 1060 esc also has a built in ON/OFF switch. 
Everything runs and operates smoothly WITHOUT the radio control power switch but i need it because its the only one long enough and designed to fit on the other side of the chasis.

My problem is i dont know how to connect the radio power switch onto the reciever, basically no throttle. 
The pictuer included im trying to show the 3 available channels. Ch.1 is for steering and Ch.2 is for throttle but it does not work when i connect the powerswitch to the esc power switch.

ps - the hobby wing esc powerwtich has 3 colors, black red and white while the radio powerswtich only has black and red.

[alvinlwh]

.

[BananaClip]

I went with option 1, im definitely not slicing any wires lol i just need it to run at this point. 
The switch is long enough to be put on the outside of the chasis - pretty cool

[alvinlwh]

.

[BananaClip]

38 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Do you know that the 1060 has a little clip on its side that the switch can slide onto? It is even visible on your picture.

Yeah but its hard to get to with the body on. I dont want to have to take off the body everytime to flip the switch.

Also the battery is longer than the chasis. The cover for the battery doesnt fit. Its pretty snug so i dont think it can slide out tho.

[alvinlwh]

.

[BuggyDad]

3 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

The HW switch will not fit into a Tamiya switch holder anyway. 

Depends on the chassis of course but you might be able to place it so that the rectangle of plastic around the HW switch that is proud of the rest of the housing is held in the chassis switch location. This bit matches the Tamiya switch hole. This is what I did on my DT-03 by crudely fitting a self tapper behind it.

(switch enclosed in the pale blue rubber material for waterproofing)